Mummy Bandage, Ii-em-hetep, born of Ta-remetj-hepu
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
Spell 149, recorded on these bandages, describes fourteen underworld “mounds,” their landscape, inhabitants, and potential obstacles. This knowledge was believed to give power to the deceased and assist his or her transformation. The vignettes represent the geographical location of each “mound” and its properties. For instance, the pig-like creature with a long tail is associated with the fiery mound 12, while the standing hippo-crocodile deity, Hebed-eref (One Who Opens His Mouth), alludes to the watery location of mound 13.
MEDIUM
Linen, ink
DATES
332 B.C.E.–1st century C.E.
PERIOD
Ptolemaic Period or later
DIMENSIONS
3 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. (8.5 x 22.5 cm)
Threads per square cm: Warp: 67 x Weft: 21
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.2039.14E
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Spell sequence: BD 149 V
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Mummy Bandage, Ii-em-hetep, born of Ta-remetj-hepu, 332 B.C.E.–1st century C.E. Linen, ink, 3 3/8 x 8 7/8 in. (8.5 x 22.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.2039.14E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.2039.14E_view2.jpg)
IMAGE
detail,
CUR.37.2039.14E_view2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2008
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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we welcome any additional information you might have.
I have a question about mummy bandages. Is the writing usually a poem or a biography that describes the life of the pharaoh/person who is mummified?
These inscribed bandages contain spells for protection of the deceased and to help in the journey to the afterlife. They can be quite poetic. Biographical information may be found on the coffin, but more likely on the walls of the tomb.
So it's like Sobekmose's Book of the Dead?
Exactly! Parts of the Book of the Dead were included in multiple forms throughout a person's funerary equipment to ensure protection and the safe journey to the afterlife. A person's name, titles, and accomplishments would be prominently featured so that visitors to the tomb could see them. The deceased knows who they are and what happened during their life. They wouldn't need to keep it close like faith and magic.
On the mummy bandage of Ii-em-hetep why is there a number 37 present?
Those are the first two numbers of the object's accession number, which is the identification number it gets assigned when it enters our collection. Each object has one!
Those first two numbers indicate the year when it entered our collection: 1937!
Cool. Thanks.
